The Washington, DC area's mass transportation system, run by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Metro's flagship transportation system is the subway. It fails all the major requirements of a mass transit system, having none of the following: affordability for local governments, affordability for riders, stops in the most heavily visited places in the DC area, consistent and on-time trains, enough cars running for its ridership, and being able to go for more than a few weeks without a length of track catching fire.

The Metro was built on heavy rail because some brain trust figured that should the DC area become a war zone, it might be convenient to put freight cars and tanks on its tracks. Everyone knows that the best way to defend major landmarks is to put defensive weaponry several hundred feet underneath them, so this was a good plan.

A lot of people think the DC Metro is superior because it's clean. These are the same people who keep plastic on their couch cushions.